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Ballyfermot () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is located west of the city centre, south of Phoenix Park. It is bordered by Chapelizod on the north, by Bluebell on the south, by Inchicore on the east, and by Palmerstown and Clondalkin on the west. The River Liffey lies to the north, and the Grand Canal, now a recreational waterway, lies to the south of Ballyfermot. Ballyfermont lies within the postal district Dublin 10. Cherry Orchard, which is also a suburb, is sometimes considered to be within Ballyfermot.
Ballyfermot is also a civil parish in the historical barony of Uppercross.
In 1307, the manor of Ballyfermot was held by William Fitzwilliam and his wife Avice, who leased part of it to Thomas Cantock, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The land passed from the Fitzwilliams to their relatives, the Clahulls from Dundrum, and later to the Barnawalls of Drimnagh Castle.
Ballyfermot Castle was constructed on the site of a Norman motte and baily. Located northwest of the intersection of Le Fanu and Raheen Roads, it was the centre of the Upper (west) and Lower (east) Ballyfermot townships. Built in stone by Wolfram De Barneval in the fourteenth century, it was a stronghold against the O'Byrne and O'Toole families. These native Gaelic families had been discommoded from their original lands near Naas.
The castle was inherited by Robert Newcomen, who enhanced it and held it into the mid-seventeenth century. Its political importance subsequently declined with the Newcomens, culminating with the suicide of Thomas Gleadowe-Newcomen in 1825. It later housed a school. The castle defence wing to the south and east is reputed to have been destroyed by fire. Ballyfermot House, known locally as 'the tiled house', was built by the Verveer family. In his A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Samuel Lewis places a Captain Lampier and his wife Bridget (Cavanaugh of Goldenbridge) (Lieutenant Joseph Lamphier, 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers and Bridget Mary Cavanagh) as living there in 1834. It stood to the north of the castle's aquaculture pond. Built in the early eighteenth century, the house had a slated façade in the Dutch style.
The nineteenth century newspaper publisher and writer Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, proprietor of the Dublin Evening Mail, lived in nearby Chapelizod when not in residence his city townhouse at Merrion Square. Ballyfermot and Chapelizod feature in his novel The House by the Churchyard and some of his other works. This large Georgian house still adjoins Church Lane next to St. Laurence's parish churchyard in Chapelizod. The eighteenth-century church, alongside the original medieval bell tower, is still in use. It serves the united parish of Ballyfermot, Palmerstown, and Chapelizod in the Church of Ireland. Le Fanu Road is named after him, as is Le Fanu Park, referred to locally as The Lawns. Le Fanu was a mentor of the writer Bram Stoker author of Dracula, who did the theatre reviews for his newspaper The Dublin Evening Mail.
A short distance from the castle site at the south-east end of Le Fanu Park is a mound which covers the ruins and churchyard of the rectory church of St Laurence. It is believed to have roots in Celtic Christianity, perhaps a minor branch of the Tallaght Maelruain or Kilnamanagh monasteries. It was connected to the Knights of St John of Jerusalem at Kilmainham in the 13th century. The churchyard ruins survived into the 1960s. This church served Ballyfermot and the surrounding townlands into the late 17th century.
Other manor houses of note include Johnstown House (St John's College), Colepark House, Sarsfield House, Sevenoaks, Floraville, Auburn Villa and Gallanstown House. The Ballyfermot townlands were transferred from the Barony of Newcastle to the Barony of Uppercross in the late nineteenth century, under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 37).
The dairy and stud farms of Ballyfermot were acquired by the authorities in the 1930s. They were developed into suburban housing estates needed to alleviate the post war housing shortage. This development, along with estates at Drimnagh, Crumlin, Walkinstown and other pockets in the south city, and Cabra Castle, Finglas and Donnycarney along with smaller pockets in the north city provided modern accommodation to facilitate the Dublin City Council public/private housing programs. Initially leased to waiting lists, these homes were sold to their residents, even prior to similar government initiatives in the United Kingdom. The first estate was built in the late 1940s at Ballyfermot Lower. South of Sarsfield House and Ballyfermot Road it was originally called the Sarsfield Estate. The street names reflect this historical theme. Gradually, the adjacent townlands to the south of Ballyfermot Road and north of Grange Cross - Ballyfermot Upper, Blackditch, Cherry Orchard, Raheen and Gallanstown were similarly developed. Johnstown, a townland of Palmerstown, located around Johnstown House (St John's College De La Salle) south of Chapelizod was developed for residential housing. Now divided along the Drumfin/Glenaulin/Sports Park perimeter, the west portion was retained by Palmerstown, while the east portion became the township/electoral district of Drumfin in Dublin City (Local Government Act 1993), and included in postal district Dublin 10.
During the 1970s Ballyfermot suffered from a lack of facilities and opportunities for its residents; however, these conditions have improved over time.
Ballyfermot is part of the Dublin South-Central Dáil constituency.
A number of Irish motor distributors are based in Ballyfermot. They include Toyota, Nissan, General Motors, J. C. Bamford (JCB), Harris Assembly and Hilux. They are centred around Kylemore Road, home to companies such as Thornton's Recycling, C&C, FBD, and Royal Liver Insurance. The industrial estates include Park West and JFK.
There are several hotels in the area, including Days Hotel at Park West and Sheldon Park on Kylemore and Bewleys at Newlands. A community based CCTV monitoring scheme for Ballyfermot was launched in early 2003. This is part of the Department of Justice Town Centre CCTV monitoring initiative.
The Irish National War Memorial, Memorial Gardens and Park, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, are accessible from the Sarsfield Road via East Timor Park (also referred to by locals as "The Gaels" due to the local GAA club which is attached to the park).
Other parks located in the area include Le Fanu Park, Glenaulin Sports Park, Markievicz Park and Cherry Orchard Park. Le Fanu Park houses the Ballyfermot Leisure Centre and The Base.
The Ballyfermot Medical Clinic is closed but a new Primary Care and Mental Health Centre has been opened beside Cherry Orchard Hospital. Services include GP, community nursing, physiotherapy, dental, addiction and community welfare. Mental Health facilities include a day hospital, day centre and outpatients clinic. This is run by the HSE.
The Hermitage Medical Clinic is located in close proximity to the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, just off the N4 motorway. The Hermitage Hospital is a 101-bed private facility with specialised medical teams who provide medical, surgical and advanced radiotherapy care to patients. The hospital is privately run. Its principal investors are Sean Mulryan, Larry Goodman, John Flynn and George Duffy GP.[1]
Due to the large amount of secondary schools in the area many merged into one which leaves Ballyfermot with two secondary schools: St Setons Secondary School and Kylemore College.
The merge between the secondary schools was necessitated due to a shortage of students between the schools.
Ballyfermot College of Further Education is a third-level institution based in the area. In 1989, Don Bluth Entertainment helped to found the college's animation department - graduates of which went on to work for the likes of Sullivan-Bluth, Fred Wolf Films and Emerald City Productions. In the 1990s, many graduates founded their own studios, including Oscar-nominated studios Brown Bag Films and Cartoon Saloon. In 2021, the animation school was ranked as the 18th best animation school in the world.
The animated TV series Roy is set in Ballyfermot, and Roy attends the fictional "Ballyfermot School". This show was produced by JAM Media, whose founders also attended Ballyfermot College of Further Education.
The local civic centre shares space with the Ballyfermot Residents Association (BRA). St Matthew's Community Centre is located adjacent to St Matthew's Church in Ballyfermot Upper (west). The is also a public library in Ballyfermot.
Ballyfermot Youth Service (BYS) is a youth service that has been running since 1985. It provides services to young people of the area including outdoor education programmes, drop-in information centres, and music and arts programmes. St Mary's Youth Club has also based in the area since 1958.
The Gala was a local auditorium until its closure in the 2010s. It was opened in 1953 and was used for several recreational uses, including as a local cinema, snooker and bingo hall.
Ballyfermot De La Salle is the largest Gaelic football club in the area. The club, which originated in 1953 as Ballyfermot Gaels, play their senior home games in the Drumfin/Glenaulin Sports Park, located on the west side of California Hills Park. The club plays in the California Hills and Markievicz Park areas as well as in Glenaulin Park. The club's colours are similar to that of Kerry, as a tribute to the first parish priest, Kerryman Charles Canon Troy, who sponsored the club.
Another club, Liffey Gaels, was founded in 1951. It was known as Rialto Gaels for over twenty years. In the 1970s, it changed its name to SS. Michael and James's to reflect the association with these schools. In 1984, a local juvenile club, Donore Iosagain, amalgamated with SS. Michael and James's and the club was renamed the Liffey Gaels. Today their immediate catchment area is Inchicore and the parishes of St Michael's, St James', St Catherine's, Rialto and Donore Avenue. The Gaels play their home games Liffeyside at East Timor Park on Sarsfield Road in Inchicore.
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